HOW TO prepare
SEAFOOD for cooking
There are a couple of steps you need to take to prepare seafood products for cooking.
prawns
- If you want to cook the prawns in their shells, remove the head by twisting and pulling it off. Next, cut a slit in the back with a sharp knife to expose the vein. Pull out the entire vein and rinse it under cold water while scrubbing lightly.
- If you want to remove the shell, pull the legs off and peel off the shell, leaving only the tail intact. Then devein the prawn as above.
- To reduce cooking time, you can butterfly the prawns by running your knife down the incision again to deepen it – but do not cut all the way through.
mussels - FRESH
- Put the mussels in a deep bowl or bucket covered in heavily salted cold water. Leave it there for at least 20 minutes. This allows the live mussels to expel the sand inside their shells. Remove all broken mussels and any open mussels.
- Remove the beard by cutting it off and scrubbing the remains of the beard clean with a brush.
- Keep mussels cold before cooking.
mussels - BLANCHED
What are blanched mussels?
Blanched mussels are partly cooked, needing only a little bit of heat once defrosted. Breco Seafoods’s half shell mussels and mussel meat are blanched, and can be ready in mere minutes! These mussels are firm, has a lovely mellow taste and are perfect for dishes like paella or seafood pasta.
- To prepare blanched mussels, simply rinse them thoroughly before use.
squid / calamari
Rinse squid in cold water if necessary.
Here are three effective tips for tenderising squid:
1. Soak the squid in a solution of 1 cup of milk, or buttermilk with 2 teaspoons of salt for 30 minutes in the fridge. This method can be used on all different cuts.
2. Mix 1 teaspoon of bicarb with a litre of water, and soak the squid in the fridge, overnight or at least one hour.
3. This tip is specifically if you want to use squid steaks: You can either score the squid steaks before frying them, or use a food hammer to tenderise it.
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